Double Dipper

The county diversity director ran a personal business on public time—with taxpayer-paid staff.

ON HIS WAY OUT: Multnomah County’s soon-to-be-former chief diversity and equity officer Daryl Dixon. - Image courtesy of Multnomah County

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The director of Multnomah County’s Office of Diversity and
Equity ran an outside consulting business while on county time, used
taxpayer-paid staff and resources to aid the company, and collected
speaking fees while he was on the public clock, records obtained by WW show.

Daryl Dixon, who
earns $100,400 a year as the office’s director, ends his tenure on the
county payroll Dec. 4. County officials say they learned of Dixon’s
outside work from a complaint to County Auditor Steve March but declined
to discuss why Dixon is leaving.

“The county does not
comment on personnel matters,” Multnomah County spokesman David Austin
says. “He is resigning to pursue other opportunities.”

Dixon denies any
wrongdoing. He says he had a verbal agreement with former Multnomah
County Chairman Jeff Cogen that he could continue his private consulting
work, provided he fulfilled his county duties.

“I worked way more than 40 hours a week for the county,” Dixon says. “I did a good job.”

Dixon, 54, who holds a
master’s degree in divinity from George Fox University, has been
director of the county office since 2010. He also serves on the board of
the North Clackamas School District.

The county’s
personnel policies allow employees to work outside jobs, but not if they
use county time or resources to do so. “Employees must not use their
positions or county property for personal gain, to solicit or conduct
personal business,” the rules say.

State records show
Dixon has operated his private consulting firm, Diversity Resources
Group, out of his Milwaukie home since 2007. But timesheets and 65
emails obtained by WW under the Oregon Public Records Law show Dixon used his county computer on county time to run the firm.

In several cases,
Dixon received email inquiries about his consulting business from
nonprofits, such as Planned Parenthood, and government agencies, such as
Josephine County, at his county email address and immediately forwarded
them to his company email address.

On Oct. 12, 2012, for
instance, Superintendent Bob Stewart of the Gladstone School District
emailed Dixon at the county. “A few years ago you did some training with
our administrators and staff,”Stewart wrote. “Do you still work with school districts?”

Dixon then met with
Stewart, who emailed Gladstone’s demographic data to Dixon’s county
email address. Dixon then forwarded that data to his personal business
email address.

In addition, Dixon sometimes directed his county assistant to set up meetings for his consulting business.

On
Jan. 31, 2013, Rahel Yared, director of diversity at Portland State
University’s School of Business Administration, sent a message to
Dixon’s private email address requesting a meeting with Dixon. (Portland
State is a longtime client of Dixon’s business, according to his
résumé.)

Dixon then sent an email to his county assistant, Rasheeda Webber, asking her to schedule the meeting. She did.

County rules also
prohibit employees from collecting honoraria or speaking fees from
outside sources if the payment is “solicited or received in connection
with the employment of the employee.” State ethics laws also make it
illegal to use public office for personal gain.

Because WW
does not have access to Dixon’s personal email, it’s impossible to know
how many of the inquiries resulted in paying engagements.

“As we have
discussed, we ask that you present a 1.5 hour workshop entitled Dignity
and Respect,” wrote Jordan Turel, Northwest Family Services’ development
and operations manager, on June 21, 2013. “In appreciation for your
services, we are happy to compensate you with a stipend of $300.”

He
gave the presentation in Canby on Aug. 21, 2013. County payroll records
show Dixon claimed he worked eight hours for the county that day.Records
show he also claimed he worked on county time when at least one other
day in 2012 when he got paid privately for outside presentations.

Dixon says the decision to leave was his, prompted by Cogen’s departure.

“I resigned,” he says. “When leadership changes, you have to assess whether the new team is the right fit.”